Review: HPI Falken Porsche Sprint 2 Sport

HPI has been teaming up with quite a few big names in the real racing world. Full-size heroes like Ken Block, Dai Yoshihara and Vaughn Gitten Jr. have all given their seal of approval to their pint-sized replicas. In fact, most of them can be seen at any given event actually holding their rides in the HPI booth. In a recent visit to HPI, I had a chance to spy the new Sprint 2 Sport dressed in the popular Falken Porsche GT3 livery. Before they could hide the production sample, I called out the sick scheme, authentic matte black BBS wheels and the massive rubber that surrounds them. I was told it was a new car that would hopefully spawn a series based on the full-size Porsche Cup, a series I have always thought would do well in RC. Let’s see if the GT3 has what it takes to support a full series on its own.

AT A GLANCE
WHO MAKES IT: HPI
WHO IT’S FOR: Everyone
HOW MUCH: $259.98
BUILD TYPE: RTR

FACTS
• At first glance, you’ll probably notice that this Porsche GT3 looks a bit on the wide side. Well, you’d be correct. This Sprint 2 clocks in at a portly 200mm wide at the max, a full 10mm wider than most touring cars. This is done by adding offset to the wheels and not the chassis itself, leaving the Sprint 2 compatible with any hop ups made for it.

• Then there’s the massively wide Porsche GT3 body. Based on the real Falken Porsche, HPI wanted to up the ante in body design by recreating the front fenders and rear valance to mimic the real car. To do this, they molded the body in multiple pieces that need to be screwed together to form a killer, yet-to-be seen 3D style bodywork. The result is fantastic, but makes me a bit worried to drive it…I don’t want to mess it up!

• HPI has set up this Porsche with the standard Sprint 2 Sport underpinnings. Plastic chassis, top deck and towers all help keep the cost down, while certain parts (mainly the motor mount and shock caps) get the upgraded aluminum treatment.

• The power package consists of HPI’s SC-15WP waterproof sport ESC, Firebolt 15T brushed motor and a Plazma 2000mAh NiMH battery pack. While it sounds super groovy, there’s nothing really exciting about it. Speeds are pretty low and run time was 6-7 minutes… both a bit disappointing. I know this helps keep the speeds down so, should you put the Porsche into a barrier, you’re not going to crush and expensive body set. Adding a better battery (say, ANY LiPo) should help out in both the speed and runtime department.

• To keep with the uber-authentic style, matte-black BBS-style wheels are included on the GT3. As mentioned before, these wheels use a pretty healthy offset to extend the width of the Porsche. A full set of super-wide racing rubber is included and actually provides really good traction. Falken tire stickers add to the realism.

• The Sprint 2 Sport comes track ready. Lots of tuning features are available including Ackermann, ride height, roll center adjustment, toe, camber and shock locations.

PROS
+ Nailed the killer Porsche body right down to the multi-piece rear end.
+ BBS wheels with huge slick tires definitely look the part.
+ Waterproof ESC and receiver box.
+ Includes HPI’s TF-40 2.4GHz radio system.
+ Low maintenance drive train, motor system and gear diffs.
+ Lots of tuning options included.

CONS
– Firebolt 15T motor is a bit anemic on power.
– Run time on the included 2000mAh battery was a paltry seven minutes!

BEHIND THE WHEEL
STEERING: OVERSTEER
Steering on the Falken Porsche is pretty good. The servo has enough power to keep it pointed in the direction you want and fast enough to catch the rear end when it steps out. The right side of the system has quite a bit of play it in, but that is mostly because the right-side steering post is not supported at the top (like the left side is). This is only a minor issue and doesn’t seem to affect the handling at all.

ACCELERATION: GOOD
The Sprint 2 Sport is snappy off the line, but never seems to get up to galloping Porsche speeds. It could definitely benefit from a bit more power, something I’m going to do here soon to see how well the tires hold up to it.

BRAKING: VERY GOOD
The one thing the Firebolt motor seems on top of is the brakes! Mash them from full throttle and the Porsche comes to a stop in no time. I did repeatedly during the test drive and, after the battery had died, checked the ESC to see how hot it was. Comfortably cool.

SUSPENSION: VERY GOOD
The suspension system is really quite good. The Porsche flew around the test track, soaking up all the imperfections the surface had to offer. It felt nice and planted through the high-speed sections with only a hint of oversteer if I busted through the hairpins too hot. HPI has included a ton of tuning options to play with, so I’m confident this car can be made to work on almost any surface.

DURABILITY: EXCELLENT
There’s not much that hangs off the chassis on this car to break other than the suspension arms and body, so if you don’t drive like a numb-nuts you should be fine. The multi-piece body does hang off the front and rear quite a bit, so take care while going up or down any driveways or ‘stepped’ surfaces.

THE LAST WORD
All I can say is that HPI’s Falken Porsche looks absolutely awesome. I really wish there would be more bodies like this as I think it really adds to the excitement of the cars. The Sprint 2 Sport is lacking in the power department, but makes up for it dramatically in just how cool it looks. Now, if HPI can release some of these bodies in different liveries (or even clear), we’ve got the makings of a pretty killer class. Can you picture it…10-15 Porsches rubbing fenders around the track! I’m in!

LINKS
HPI hpiracing.com, 949-753-1099